NaVi Legend Edward Leaves Natus Vincere, Boombl4 Replaces Him

The legendary Counter-Strike player, and one of the oldest players in the CS:GO competitive scene, NaVi legend Edward, left Natus Vincere. He is going to join Winstrike Team on loan, and Boombl4 from Winstrike will replace him in NaVi.

Farewell to NaVi legend Edward

Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev is one of the oldest guys in the CS:GO competitive scene as he was born in 1987. He started playing Counter-Strike at an early age, and he has been present in CS for a very long time. He started his career in pro100 in 2004 and was a part of that team until 2007. That year, NaVi joined Virtus.pro but at the end of 2008, NaVi legend Edward parted ways with this iconic team.

In the following year, the Ukrainian player changed several teams. Finally, his journey in NaVi started off all the way back in 2010 when he joined the Russian team. Since then, Edward was just shortly out of Natus Vincere in 2013 when he played for Astana Dragons for four months. After that, he returned to NaVi and has never left his team again until today.

Taking everything into account, Edward spent 3305 days in total as part of the NaVi roster. During the period he spent in NaVi, Edward won 23 LAN events, including titles he clinched in earlier versions of Counter-Strike. Unfortunately for him, he has never won a Major title although he played the Grand Finals three times. His team was beaten by Astralis (FACEIT Major), Luminosity Gaming (Columbus Major) and Team EnVyUs (DH Napoca Major). Additionally, Edward played in the Semis and Quarters of Majors a number of times.

It’s time to bring fresh blood to NaVi

Although Edward is NaVi legend, his performance rating significantly dropped after Summer in 2016. Since then, he has been struggling to find his old game as he ended so many events with a rating below 1.00. Also, according to HLTV statistics, his average rating was continuously below 1.00 from the beginning of last year to the beginning of this year. Hence, Edward leaves Natus Vincere as his team wants to bring new guns to the team.

That is going to be Winstrike’s 20-year-old In-Game Leader – Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov. This player is considered to be one of the most talented young players at the moment in CS:GO. So, NaVi is glad that they could bring him to their team:

“I know some fans will be glad to hear it, while others will be very frustrated. NAVI players and staff currently have a mix of those. On one hand, we are welcoming one of the most talented young players in the world; on the other hand — NAVI legend, one of the founders, a true, kind and honest man, is leaving.” (source)

Young Kirill is also happy because he can join the best East European team:

“I am grateful to Natus Vincere and the players for this opportunity. I will give it my all every game, every tournament, no matter what. There’s lots of work to be done, thanks to fans for the support.

I won’t be talking big, I am used to letting my actions speak for me, not words”. (source)